Re-creating the sights and sounds of Versailles - OAE's Dangerous Liaisons

The pasticcio was a standard form in Baroque opera, creating a new opera from elements of previous ones and allowing performers to re-visit their greatest hits. The same was true of French baroque opera, where the Paris Opera and the Versailles of Louis XIV re-worked existing pieces to create 'fragments', new operas with new plots based on existing material.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is giving us a taste of these French Baroque mash-ups tonight, 26 June 2018, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall when John Butt will be conducting them in a programme entitled Dangerious Liaisons, with music by Lully, Rameau, Charpentier, Campra and forgotten composers Mouret, Corrette and Marais, Dangerous Liaisons provides a rare chance to experience the best of French baroque music and dance, spanning 70 years. Some of the nearly 50 pieces have had no known performances since the 17th and 18th centuries, or been seen in their proper context – as dances.

Co-curated by flautist Lisa Beznosiuk and choreographer Hubert Hazebrouq, the programme will feature an essential element of French Baroque opera, dancers. The dances have been researched and choreographed by Hubert Hazebroucq and his troupe Les Corps Eloquents using original dance plates from the period.

Full details from the OAE website.